The Christmas Spirit
by blue-crystal-9
Summary: Hinamori’s having trouble getting into Christmas this year. Hitsugaya/Hinamori, Matsumoto/Hisagi. One-shot.


**Title: **The Christmas Spirit  
**Author:** blue_crystal_9  
**Rating:** PG/K+  
**Pairing:** Hitsugaya/Hinamori, Matsumoto/Hisagi, and a very subtle Matsumoto/Gin. It's barely there, really.  
**Summary:** Hinamori's having trouble getting into Christmas this year. Hitsugaya/Hinamori, Matsumoto/Hisagi.  
**Warnings:** A little bit of swearing, but nothing besides that.  
**Spoilers:** Up to episode 60, I believe.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. Tite Kubo does. This makes me sad.  
**Dedication: **This is dedicated to my best friend, who was like, "Write a Christmas fic!" and when I said I'd never finish it in time, she was like, "Well, write a drabble!" And this certainly didn't turn out to be a drabble. :P  
**Author's Note:** I really wanted to write a Christmas fic, but I didn't have any specific idea in mind, so I just sat down and wrote whatever came into my head. Half a bag of chips (I ate half of a 260 g bag by myself, it was ridiculous) and several cups of coffee later, this came out. In the middle of the night, might I add. ;)

It's probably a bit jumpy, and I apologize for that, but please excuse it as I wrote it very quickly and I was very tired. I wanted to get it posted before I went away for Christmas, so it was kind of rushed. :|

Oh, by the way, the ending is complete and utter fluff. It's so sappy it makes me want to run away and hide. ;)

**The Christmas Spirit**

* * *

_My world is changing  
I'm rearranging  
Does that mean Christmas changes too?_

_Where are you Christmas?  
Do you remember  
The one you used to know?  
I'm not the same one  
See what the time's done  
Is that why you have let me go?_

- "_Where Are You Christmas?_" by Faith Hill

* * *

It was almost Christmas.

And it was damn _cold_.

Hinamori's teeth chattered as she made her way from the fifth division to the dining hall so she could get herself a very late supper. She'd missed supper earlier because she'd been finishing up the huge pile of paperwork that had been accumulating on her desk. Even though Hitsugaya had taken over some of her paper work, she still had so much to do. It was extremely difficult running a division by herself.

An icy wind blew around Hinamori. She shivered, pulling her scarf around her more securely.

Well, at least Hitsugaya would be happy.

But Hinamori, who was a summer girl, was totally _not_.

Not that she didn't like the winter or anything. She loved the snow, and found it very pretty. But she was not fond of days like this when it was bitterly cold.

That, and the fact that she wasn't really into the Christmas spirit this year. Both these things were making her very grumpy.

It was hard for her to be happy this Christmas. So many things had happened over the past few months. Aizen's betrayal, the war, and many of the shinigami were still mourning friends they had lost in the battle. As well, Hinamori hadn't really had a chance to talk to Hitsugaya about what had happened between them after Aizen had faked his death. Things had been so busy after the war; they'd had to do so much rebuilding and so much paperwork that she'd barely seen him at all. Because of this, they hadn't had a chance to really sort things out, and now things were awkward between them, almost strained. It wasn't obvious to the naked eye, but Hinamori still felt it. It made Hinamori sad, because her Shiro-chan had always been her constant in her life, and now even _that_ felt different.

Hinamori had changed. She couldn't quite get into the festivities this year like she used to. She was just too tired.

She finally reached the dining hall and opened the door, heading straight for the kitchen. She looked through the contents for a few minutes, but didn't pick anything up. She wasn't hungry enough for a meal; she just wanted something snack-like.

She spotted several cardboard boxes on the floor, and beamed. Perfect! Rukia had brought back several boxes of snacks from the real world for them, something called "potato chips". They were tasty _and_ snack-like, just what she wanted. They weren't the healthiest things ever, but she could ignore that information. She picked up one of the small bags and headed out to where the tables were, sitting down in one of the chairs.

A few minutes after she started eating, the door opened. To her surprise, it was Hitsugaya.

"Hitsugaya-kun," She greeted as he walked closer to her. "What are you doing here?"

"The tenth division is out of tea and I came to get some." He said, snagging one of the boxes of tea off of a shelf.

He frowned when he looked at her again. "What?" Hinamori asked, confused.

"Is that your supper?" Hitsugaya asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Hinamori swallowed, "Maybe."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, "You should be eating something substantial instead of that crap."

Hinamori shrugged, "I was too lazy to warm anything up."

Hitsugaya sighed and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with a plate of wasabi rolls. "Here." He said, thrusting the plate at her, "Eat this."

"But-" Hinamori protested, brandishing her chip bag, but was silenced by Hitsugaya's glare.

"Eat. Them."

"Okay, okay." Hinamori muttered, taking the plate, watching as he snatched the bag of chips from her and threw it in the garbage. "Spoil sport."

"Whatever. You need to eat something healthy. You're looking pale again." Hitsugaya stood a few feet away from her, looking at her intently. She gazed at her plate, not able to meet his gaze when he stared at her like that. "Are you feeling well?"

Hinamori nodded, eyes still trained on her plate. "Yes. Well, except for the usual seasonal cold, but everyone gets that."

"Are you sleeping well? Having any nightmares?"

She looked up at him sharply, noticing the way he was watching her. She'd had a few nightmares after the war had ended, but lately she'd just been dreamless. Which she preferred, because her dreams always seemed to involve Aizen, nightmares or otherwise. And she really didn't like thinking about him. "No, no nightmares. I don't sleep that well, though." Why bother lying to him, he always knew anyway. He was too damn smart for his own good, little punk.

"Insomnia?"

"A bit, I suppose. I do get _some_ sleep, just not as much as I'd like."

"Huh."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Hinamori eating her supper and Hitsugaya watching her. She knew he was studying her; studying the purple circles that were becoming visible around her eyes again. She knew he worried about her, and wished he didn't. He had enough to worry about as it was, without being concerned if she was getting enough sleep or not. She felt her stomach twist with guilt; she was always causing him too much trouble.

He spoke suddenly, "Perhaps Unohana could give something to help you sleep. You should go see her."

She sighed. "Yes, maybe. I'll see."

She looked up, and suddenly he was right in front of her. Two seconds ago he was _definitely_ three or four feet away from her, now he was… much closer. How the _hell_ did he move so soundly? It wasn't shunpo; how did all the captains do that?

"Go see her, okay?" He murmured, his voice low. Hinamori's breath caught in her throat when he gently brushed her cheek with his fingers, his touch barely even a whisper. "I want you well." He pulled his hand back and straightened, looking at her. "Alright?"

"Y-yes." She managed to get out, blinking to bring herself back to reality. She was blushing furiously.

"Good." He said, before turning around with a swish of his captain's haori and heading for the door. "Goodnight."

" 'Night." She managed to squeak out before he exited. As soon as he left she let her head fall to the table with a dull _thump_.

This was getting terribly inconvenient. Not only could he sneak up on her unnoticed, but now he was making her incapable of forming proper sentences.

For you see, Hinamori had realized that she had developed an attraction for the white haired captain. And that suddenly made everything much more complicated. Because not only was their relationship in an awkward place at the moment, but she had absolutely no idea how he felt about her. Hence, she didn't know what to do about it.

And it didn't help that he'd grown over the past few months. He still wasn't that tall - and Hinamori suspected that he never would be- but he was a few inches above her 5'0. And he'd gained some more muscle over the war, so he'd filled out his growth spurt nicely. Now he looked… very appealing.

Rather drool-worthy, as one of the other seated shinigami women had put it dreamily. And Hinamori couldn't help but agree.

This situation was very, very…bad.

Sighing wearily, Hinamori threw out the remainders of her food and made her way back to the fifth division. Once there, she flopped on her futon dejectedly, pulling her pillow over her face.

She contemplated going into the tenth division to talk to Matsumoto about what she was feeling, but didn't make a move to go. That required energy, and courage.

Neither of which she had at the moment.

Besides, she didn't want to wake Matsumoto.

Excuses, excuses.

And she figured that Matsumoto would laugh very hard if she told her about her feelings for her best friend. She didn't need that; she was already embarrassed about it enough as it was.

She growled irritably. It was going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

Hinamori stumbled out of the fifth division barracks the next morning, still half asleep. She had to get up bright and early and go out in the cold in order to help prepare for the Christmas party they were having the next day.

Gah.

Really, wasn't that what the third seats were for? Why did the vice captains have to be in charge?

Hinamori ignored the voice in her head that whispered that normally she would _enjoy_ decorating. Which was the truth. But honestly, all she wanted to do was sleep.

She had barely slept at all the night before. She tossed and turned for hours, agonizing over Hitsugaya. She'd finally fallen asleep when the sky had started turning light.

And then, of course, her alarm had woken her up.

Needless to say it was in the garbage, singed from the use of a well aimed kido spell. Oops.

So this morning Hinamori had come to a decision. Embarrassment be damned, she was going to talk to Matsumoto about her feelings for Hitsugaya. She really wanted to be able to sleep soundly again, not to mention unravel all of her jumbled thoughts. And God knows Matsumoto had more experience than Hinamori in the romance department. Or at least she assumed, anyway.

She shuffled into the dinning hall where all of the vice captains were meeting over breakfast. A cheery Matsumoto greeted her, "Good morning, sunshine!"

"Mehhhhh." Was her response.

Hisagi smirked. "Tea?"

"Oh God, yes." Hinamori said, reaching for the mug he handed her and gulping it down unceremoniously.

"Alright, since everyone's here now, let's get the meeting started." Matsumoto said, picking up a pen and a clipboard. "So we need to decide what everyone's going to do to help prepare for this shindig. I've already got myself marked down for decorations along with Nanao-chan. What about everyone else?"

"Oooh, I wanna do food!" Yachiro said, bouncing excitedly. Behind her, Hisagi and Renji silently flailed their disproval, looks of abject horror on their faces.

"Um, what if you helped us with decorations, Yachiro? Deciding on the food will get boring after a while anyway, decorations are fun." Matsumoto said, hiding her grin.

Yachiro thought for a moment before smiling broadly. "Okay!" Renji and Hisagi exhaled in relief.

"Renji, Kira and I will do cleanup." Hisagi said.

"Okay. What about you, Momo?" They all turned to look at her.

Hinamori blinked at the sudden attention on her. "I'll help with decorations, I suppose."

"Great!" Matsumoto chirped. The last few vice captains that were left chose what they were going to help with and then they ended the meeting, everyone going off to start their various tasks.

Hinamori stopped Matsumoto on her way out the door. "Rangiku-san, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." She said, leaning against one of the tables. "What's up?"

Hinamori took a deep breath before starting, "Well, it's about Hitsugaya-kun."

Matsumoto grinned slyly, "Ooh, it's about the captain, excellent. So, what about him?"

"Well, I'm not sure what to do about… something concerning him. I didn't know who else to go to." Hinamori said hesitantly.

"Okay, tell me about it."

"I've recently discovered that I… well, that I have feelings for him."

Hinamori's prediction had been correct. Matsumoto laughed.

"_What_?" Hinamori demanded.

Matsumoto giggled, "It's just that it's taken you long enough to realize it. It's been so _obvious_."

Hinamori cringed, "Really?"

Matsumoto laughed again. "Yes. I'd say pretty much all of the Gotei 13 knows about it."

Hinamori's eye widened. "Oh no. Do you think… _he_ knows about it?"

"Well, Hitsugaya-taicho's a smart man, very perceptive. It's very likely he does know." Not noticing Hinamori's horrified look, Matsumoto added sarcastically, "But then again, he can be awfully stupid when it comes to his own feelings. Silly, emotionally inept man."

"What do you mean?"

Matsumoto rolled her eyes. "Well _obviously_, he has feelings for you."

Hinamori gaped at her for a minute before stuttering, "B-but…no. That's not possible."

"And why not?" Matsumoto said, arching an eyebrow.

"Because I really don't think he feels the same way. I mean, I'm his best friend. We grew up together. It's just not possible."

"That's all the more reason for him to have feelings for you."

"It's just that I can barely even talk normally around him anymore. He probably thinks I'm an idiot." She mumbled. "I just want to get this resolved, and have everything go back to normal."

Matsumoto put an arm around her sympathetically, her voice gentle. "You and I both know that that is never going to happen. Too much has happened, too much has _changed_ for things to go back to the way they used to. You just have to move forward."

Hinamori sighed. "I know. I just can't quite figure out how to do that."

"Well, tell him how you feel."

"I-I can't do that!" Hinamori said frantically. "What if he rejects me? What if he _laughs_? Besides, our relationship is already awkward enough at the moment, that would make it _more_ awkward."

Matsumoto shrugged, "Well, that's just a risk you are going to have to take. You don't want to keep things like this, do you?" At Hinamori's reluctant nod, she continued. "Exactly. You don't want to have unresolved feelings for someone. Believe me, I know. It always ends in tears." After a moment of staring out into space, she spoke again. "And besides, Hitsugaya-taicho won't laugh at you. He's not like that. I honestly believe he _does_ have feelings for you. Why else would he have risked his life to save you? He tried to kill Aizen because he hurt you. I think that alone shows he feels something for you."

"Or maybe he did it just because I'm his best friend." Hinamori interjected.

"Well, you'll just have to find out, won't you?" Matsumoto winked. "Love isn't as horrible as you think. Complicated, yes. But in the end, it's a good thing. Definitely a good thing." There was a small, dreamy smile on her face.

Hinamori nudged her playfully, "What's with that look? I've noticed Hisagi hanging around you recently, is there something going on between you two?"

Matsumoto grinned secretively, "A lady never kisses and tells. Or rather, a lady never has s-"

Hinamori clamped her hands over her ears. "I don't want to know!" Matsumoto laughed, and Hinamori smiled at her. "I'm glad for you two, really. Hisagi's had a crush on you for ages."

Matsumoto grinned, "I know. Silly man, so persistent."

"And at least _one_ of us has their love life under control." Hinamori muttered darkly.

"Hey, perhaps in the next few days, you will too. What better time to admit your feelings than Christmas? So happy, so festive, so full of joy-"

Hinamori interrupted Matsumoto's rambling. "Oh shut up."

She rolled her eyes, ignoring Matsumoto's laughter.

* * *

The next day was Christmas Eve, and that night they were having their Christmas party. The Seireitei was now covered in Christmas decorations.

Matsumoto, Nanao, Yachiro and Hinamori had been in charge of the decorations, and they'd split up in to pairs in order to make the work faster. Hinamori and Nanao had gone together, leaving Yachiro and Matsumoto to their own devices.

Which obviously was an extremely bad idea.

The place looked like a Christmas tree had thrown up on it; there was red and green and gold _everywhere_. Not to mention the mistletoe. Oh, the mistletoe. It was in every single room, in every single place a poor, unsuspecting person wouldn't think to look. Which caused some very awkward scenes.

Such was the case with Hitsugaya Toshiro, Hinamori later found out. She met him in the corridor to the dining hall on her way back from lunch.

"Hello." He said, coming up beside her.

"Good afternoon." She smiled at him, before noticing his grumpy expression. "What's wrong?"

"There's mistletoe all over the place." Hitsugaya said, irritated. "I walked into the captain's meeting this morning the same time as Kuchiki taicho and there was a bunch of the stuff above our heads. It was highly uncomfortable. Thank the gods Yamamoto started the meeting or someone would have lost an eye."

Hinamori laughed.

"Who was in charge of the decorations anyway?" Hitsugaya grumbled.

"Matsumoto, Yachiro, Nanao and I were, but Yachiro and Matsumoto went a little over board."

"Matsumoto." He growled lowly. "I should have known."

That reminded her of what Matsumoto had said her yesterday. …_Well, you'll just have to find out, won't you?_ She quickly looked over her shoulder; no one was around them. It was as good as any time to talk to him.

"Um, Hitsugaya-kun?"

"Yes?" He turned to look at her.

She touched his wrist to stop him from walking. His skin was slightly cool as usual, but for some reason it scorched her. She jerked her hand back, blushing. "Um…n-nothing. Never mind." She hurried away from him, not looking back at his confused expression.

Great, now she was going to have to avoid him at the stupid Christmas party that night. Just _wonderful_.

* * *

It was ten o'clock at night, and the party was in full swing.

Kira, Renji and Iba had their arms around each other, singing a rather out of tune "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". They, including Matsumoto and Hisagi, had of course already made quite a bit of leeway into the sake. Not to mention Kyoraku taicho, who'd already been drunk _before_ he arrived.

Despite herself, Hinamori was enjoying the party. The food had been great, the music was good and there had been several funny moments, most notably one which had happened a few hours ago.

Matsumoto had been standing under some mistletoe. And Hisagi, taking note of this fact, had pointed to it. She'd only had enough time to glance up at it before Hisagi had swooped her into his embrace and planted a full blown kiss on her lips. Everyone had a stared opened mouthed at them in shock for several seconds before bursting into cheers. They'd resurfaced a few minutes later, Hisagi smirking smugly and Matsumoto flushed and laughing. Hinamori had noticed that after that Matsumoto hadn't left his side, a small, happy smile playing on her lips.

Hinamori had been standing under the mistletoe several times as well, but luckily she'd been quick enough to dodge Kira's rather drunken attempts to kiss her. Everyone else had enough sense not to bother. Kyoraku-taicho unfortunately, did not. He tried to kiss Nanao several times, and was rewarded with a bitch slap for his efforts.

Hitsugaya had come for a while, too. Not very long, as he certainly wasn't a partier, but he'd stayed for an hour or more. Hinamori had only spoken a few words to him. She mostly avoided him, as she was still flustered around him.

She really needed to talk to him, but she was still concerned about the fact that her tongue didn't seem to work properly around him. She looked over at Matsumoto and Hisagi, who were watching Renji and the rest sing, laughing and singing along with them. Hisagi had his arm lightly around her waist and Matsumoto had her head against his shoulder.

They looked _happy_. She wanted that. It was high time she got over herself and actually talked to Hitsugaya, instead of stuttering and running away. So, with her shoulders set determinedly she headed for the door.

"Hinamori, where are you going?" She heard Matsumoto call over the noise of the party.

Hinamori stopped and turned around, "I'm going to see Hitsugaya-kun."

Matsumoto's eyes widened in understanding. "Yay!" She cheered. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Hinamori called over her shoulder as she wrapped her scarf around her shoulders and left the building.

It was a nice night out. The sky was clear, and it was snowing lightly. She felt slightly calmer once she was out in the quiet.

Of course, that all changed once she'd reached the tenth division. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, walking down the corridor until she reached the door to Hitsugaya's office. She stared at it for several seconds before she rolled her eyes at herself and knocked.

"Come in." The low timbre of his voice came through the door.

She opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"Hinamori." He said, sounding slightly surprised. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually." She said, and then noticed that he was doing paperwork. On Christmas Eve. "Hitsugaya-kun, _why_ are you doing paperwork?"

"Because this is the paperwork that Matsumoto didn't finish because she was _decorating_. And it needs to be completed." He said dryly. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"There are two things actually. First of all, I wanted to apologize."

He stopped writing and looked up at her strangely, "What do you have to apologize for?"

Hinamori laughed humorlessly, "I have a great many things to apologize to you for, Hitsugaya-kun. We haven't really talked about what happened, and that's mostly my fault. Things are awkward between us because of that, and I don't want that. So, I came to apologize." She looked him directly in the eye, her voice muted. "I'm so sorry, Shiro-chan. I'm sorry for pointing my sword at you, and believing _him_ instead of you. I'm sorry for making you almost die for me, and for making you worry."

"Hinamori…" Hitsugaya started to say, but she wasn't finished.

"And I'm sorry for causing you more stress. You already have enough paperwork; let alone taking on some of mine. I need to learn to do my own damn paperwork."

"Hinamori." Hitsugaya sighed. "I told you the last time you apologized to me that I didn't care about all that. I'd already forgiven you long ago."

She couldn't stop the tears that sprung into her eyes at that. "Thank you, Shiro-chan." She whispered, wiping her eyes.

"I just want you to be well. Don't worry about me worrying about you, got it?" He said, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." She gave him a small smile.

"Good." He said gruffly, before picking up his pen again. "What was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well," Hinamori began, blushing. "I realized something recently about you, something that I've been too stupid to realize for quite some time."

"And what was that?" Hitsugaya asked, his eyes still trained on the paperwork.

She licked her lips nervously, her mouth suddenly dry. "I came to tell you that I think… I think I'm in love with you."

There, she'd finally said it.

Hitsugaya's pen froze mid stroke. His head snapped up to look at her. "Wha-"

"And that there's mistletoe above your head." Hinamori added, stepping closer once he looked up at it. She quickly pressed her lips against his before murmuring, "Merry Christmas." Then she high tailed it out of there.

Well, at least she attempted to. She'd only made it a few steps before Hitsugaya had grabbed her arm and turned her around. How in the _Seireitei_ did he move so fast?

"What did you say?" He gasped out, clutching her wrist tightly.

"Um… Merry Christmas?"

"_No_, what you said before that. Say it again." His eyes were wide and serious, staring intently at her face.

She blushed even more before saying quietly, "I think I'm in love with you."

Suddenly, he was kissing her. She froze in surprise at first before relaxing as he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss.

When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily. Hitsugaya smirked at her, "By the way, I'm in love with you too."

Hinamori laughed. "That's good to know."

And then he was pulling her forward again for another kiss.

* * *

They ended up curled on the sofa in Hitsugaya's office, Hinamori's head resting against his chest. Well, technically Hinamori was lying half on top of Hitsugaya because the couch wasn't big enough to fit them both.

Like she minded anyway.

Then she remembered something, "What about the paperwork you had to finish?"

Hitsugaya snorted. "Screw the paperwork. Matsumoto can do her own damn paperwork." Hinamori giggled at him.

They were silent for a moment until Hinamori shivered slightly. Hitsugaya looked over at her. "Are you cold?"

"A little, I suppose." She answered, making a whimper of protest when he sat up. He pulled off his white captain's haori and covered her with it. She snuggled closer to him and sighed contentedly. After a moment she spoke, "How long?"

"Hmmm?" Hitsugaya brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.

"How long have you had feelings for me?"

He was silent for a long time before he spoke. "For a very long time."

"I'm sorry I didn't realize it until now. I was an idiot."

"It's okay. You're worth the wait." He murmured, kissing her forehead.

She felt warm and comfortable and safe now. And amazingly, she felt tired. Normally she was still wide awake at this time. Apparently admitting her feelings had ceased her worrying, which had cured the insomnia.

She curled closer to him, saying sleepily, "Merry Christmas, Shiro-chan."

As her eyelids felt too heavy to hold up and sleep began to overtake her, she heard Hitsugaya whisper quietly, "Merry Christmas, Momo."

Christmas was nice after all.

* * *

So, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you all have a good holiday! :) Review please!

And now I have to get ready to go to my grandmother's, the land of no computers and bad TV channels. :( Gah.


End file.
